The Other Side
by kissingpoisonapples
Summary: When Peach receives a letter from an unfamiliar kingdom she leaves home in hopes of forming an alliance for her kingdom. Get there, meet the ruler, form a treaty. Easy enough right? Except instead of that, she gets a lesson she'll never forget.
1. The Letter

**Peach's POV**

I stared ahead blankly through the wide window, letting the cool breeze brushed by me and played in my hair. Hand upon the windowsill, I took in a long breath, letting the scent of forest, evergreen, and pumpkins in fall mix together around me. It was a delightful scent, one of which I'd never experienced in my own kingdom. But I was not in my kingdom now.

No, I was far along the edge of my kingdom now, in the castle of a royal family who's named had been long forgot in the tides of time. I ran my hand gently along the aged walls and pondered my current situation. Then the pitter-patter of tiny steps summoned my attention, and I turned to see a familiar short boy with a red-on-white mushroom cap running toward me.

"Princess Peach, it's time!" He called to me. I turned to him fully, dusting off the pink-on-pink gown and brush my white gloved hands over my hair one last time before nodding.

"Lead the way." I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering. In all honesty, as I followed him down the long, dimly light hall, my nervousness washed over me, growing like a snowball racing down the snow covered mountains in December. Only that was far easier to handle...

We exchanged no words to each other, as if the silence between us said everything for us. 'This is dangerous... We're to far from home. We shouldn't have come. We should have brought Mario, at least.' I sighed softly, but Toad did not look back at me, as if to focused to keep his wits about him in this foreign land. For that, I was beyond thank full.

I had, of course, considered asking Mario to come as one of my guards, but after learning of his affair with a certain red-dress-brown-haired-man-stealing-woman, I found it difficult to look at him the same way. So instead I settled for my usual guards, 16 mushroom soldiers, Toad-my most trusted advisor, and Perry- my talking parasol.

Perry, however, was napping silently as he hung from my arm, so only Toad's and my footsteps accompanied us. As we neared the end of the hall, I saw four more toads standing in front of two large twin doors with engravings running along the sides. On each side of the door frame, two toads stood; one holding a spear while the other held a fire flower. They looked at me, smiled with a greeting, and opened the doors by having one toad on each side stand on the head of his companion to hold the knob while his companion walked backward.

Under any other circumstance I would have found the sight amusing and cute, but there was to much weighing on this moment for giggles. In this moment, I could gain my kingdom a much needed ally or start a war we weren't even prepared for. Light filtered through the doors as they cracked open, reaching out further to light the hall behind me.

The doors opened fully and my jaw dropped...


	2. Tiny Introductions

Peach's POV

I stared, mouth slowly curving in a frown at the scene i front of me. The room, while still having an aged feel, had a large oval table in the center of it. Plates and silverware laid across it while candles light the room. The chairs had been dusted off as well. As if the whole room was alive and waiting for the guest to arrive. But where was the guests? I was supposed to be meeting the princess of the Haun- Uh.. Pumpkin Kingdom here. That was the whole reason I had come after all, an invitation for the arrangement of an alliance. Yet there was no Giant Spunklin here, only the table and

the candles.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" A yell echoed, catching me off guard as I turned my attention to the door parallel to the one I'd just entered. The door busted open, revealing a short, chubby girl with tan skin and a blue mushroom cap. Her pale brown overalls layered a white undershirt, and she had stumbles instead of actually feet. She looked like she could have belonged to my Kingdom, but what was she... No... No this was a trap!

I gripped Perry, preparing myself for the worse before, to my surprise, the girl kept walking. She'd ignored me... she... IGNORED me. I frowned more, watching as the girl peeked under table and chairs for something. What it was, I didn't know, but it didn't really matter for the moment, I was here with one intention: the betterment of my kingdom.

I took a deep, calming breath being stepping closer, "Excuse me?" I began, remaining as diplomatic as possible. The girl grunted, not acknowledging me. Again, I began, "Excuse me, I'm here via invitation for the discussion o-"

"Yeah, yeah, hold us f-ing horses! I'm looking for-!" She interjected, finally looking up at me. Then her expression went sour, her eyes filled with pure hate laced in disguise. The nerve! I'd have liked if she just kept ignoring me. But it was to late now, and I watched as she stormed up to me, yelling with one fist raised. "You! You ignorant bitch! What are you doing here?!" She practically growled.

"I was invited." I said flatly, my brows tilting upward in confusion. Who was this girl? Had no one taught her manners? Honestly, to yell at a stranger in such a way. "Who are you?"

"I'm Minerva, idiot! And you! Your boyfriend has caused a lot of trouble for me, and I'm sick of it! You owe me big time!" She yelled, crossing her arms in front of her. My boyfriend? What on earth was she even talking about? I sighed, willing myself to focus as I looked down to meet her gaze.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to handle you little pranks. I'm here on representative business to speak with the princess of-" I said in my most diplomatic tone, though apparently this only enraged her more as she narrowed her large eyes further. Honestly, what was her problem? As she began to yell again, I looked around the room again. Left bits and pieces of her words travel in the air.

Things like "I am..." "Your boyfriend!" and "Bitch" filled the air around me, but they held no weight. Then I heard this smaller girl- Minerva- says as calmly as possible, "All I want is a LITTLE compensation."

I couldn't help it, I snickered at the comment. A "little" compensation reminded me of the feat preformed earlier by the Toad Guards, and how cute it was. Not surprising, this set her off again, but before she could go off like a Bob-Bomb again I interrupted. "I'm sorry, but right now there is nothing I can do. Now please, the Princess of the Pumpkin Kingdom." I said, smiling slightly in an attempt to make peace.

She growled at me and said, "It's the Haunted Kingdom, ya bimbo! And she right- FUCK!" She yelled, looking around again. I guess she was looking for the princess herself. At least now I know this wasn't a trap. Though I found the missing princess to be... bothersome, to say the least. Finally Minerva picked something off the floor behind a chair and lifted it to her head, muttering what I assumed to be more curses before strutting over to me again. She raised raised her hand high and announced, "This is the princess of the Haunted Kingdom!" I stared at her for a moment, not sure what trick she was trying to play. Then I heard a tiny, high pitched voice said hello.

My gaze finally fell to Minerva's open palm, and I gasped. In her palm was a smaller girl, no more than three sugar cubes high. She had on an orange dress with a green ribbon around the waist and her eyes were lit candles. LITERALLY. Her head was a pumpkin, holes carved into it to form eyes and a mouth while two dim lights shines in her eyes. I'm assuming they are actually filled with candles.

We met eyes and her mouth reformed itself into a bright smile. She did something between a bow and a curtsy, as if not sure which she has supposed to do. The leaning over action made her head fall off her shoulders, causing the orange ball rolled off of Minerva's hand and begin to free fall to the marble floor.

On instinct, I reached down to catch the small orange ball before noticing something. It was beginning to grow. Form the size of a sugar cube, it doubled in size over and over until it landed on the floor. It rolled very little, and I gasped in surprise at the newfound size. I'd noticed that Minerva had also already put the body down too. I stared at the bottom of a long, orange mermaid dress with a long dark brown stash in the center. The change was so sudden, I'd forgotten about the head and just forced myself to look up. The girl's headless body stood at least five feet tall-maybe closer to six really, her strapless gown tight around her plump figure, giving her an elegant yet alluring feel. Minerva grunted, snatched the head from the floor and put it in the princess's gloved hands. It actually took me a moment of watching the girl reattach her head for me to realize that her white gloved were actually laced like spider webs.

"Stop staring at her you cunt!" Minerva yelled at me, snapping me back to reality. I shook my head and cleared my throat, ignoring the smaller girl's pointless raves. Seriously, what was her deal? Though before I could speak, the Princess spoke up.

"Minerva~ it's not nice to call people cunts." She said, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly to form the words. Minerva just placed a hand on her hip and scoffed at the comment, brushing it off. At least someone had manners out of the two. "My name's Lumpkin! Princess of the Haunted Kingdom! And this is Minerva, Princess of the Mini Mushroom Kingdom!" The girl- Lumpkin- chimed softly, crouching down and hugging her companion. Minerva cringed and squirmed as Lumpkin picked her up.

"Put me down~" she growled with a threat, "I swear I'll shirk you!" Lumpkin must have taken this as an offer rather than a threat because her eyes lit up even more, to Minerva's annoyance. I watched the two bicker for a moment, Lumpkin seeming excited at the thought of being the size of a sugar cube, while Minerva just wanted to be put down. An annoyed sigh escaped my lips and I furrowed my brow. Mainly because there was no Mini Mushroom Kingdom, that I knew for sure, and I had no interest in playing along with this imaginary kingdom.

"Excuse me," they turned their heads to me. "While I hate to be rude, I'm here to discuss the allia-"

"I know why you're here!" Lumpkin interrupted. Great, at least now we could get down to business. "I guess we'll get right to it! We want the head of the man named Mario and your army to protect Minerva!" The pumpkin headed girl beamed, her eyes closing in delight at her proclamation. Surely she was kidding...right? I looked at Minerva, taking in her light skin and the dirt that covered her. She was probably just a farm girl cause it didn't look like there was anything special about her otherwise. That was out of the question. Not to mention, the head of Mario? Why would anyone want him dead? He's saved my kingdom so many times, saved the lives of others countless times, it made no sense why she'd want him dead.

"You're kidding..." I said, my patience begging to wear thin. Lumpkin just turned her head to Minerva in question and- as I expected- Minerva scoffed at me. "No... absolutely not. Are you completely mental? Do you have no brains at all? That will never happen!" I declared sternly. First a shrunk princess, then a raging blue-head girl, being ignored, and now this nonsense? This was just ridiculous.

Lumpkin just looked at Minerva, "Minerva~ she said no... what do we do?" Minerva's face twisted in something between disbelief and irritation, though I wasn't sure which emotion was directed at Lumpkin and I. Then Minerva smirked and I found myself backing up slightly.

"Grab her..."

**Mega credit goes to my friend GrellMichelis100 who created and allowed me to use Minerva in this story! Be sure to check her out if you haven't already~ Thanks again babu!**


	3. Kidnappings

Lumpkin's POV

I couldn't understand why this girl insisted on the words "No" and "Never". I knew what they meant of course, I just don't understand why she insisted on using them. She was miles away from home, surrounded by foreign walls. My people had the advantage. Yet she still insisted to go against us, even after I had her pinned to the floor while Minerva forced her to eat the mini mushrooms. Before long princess was the size of a candle, and Minerva picked her up.

"Now look here you!" My friend announced to the tiny princess. "You've put me through a lot of trouble with your boyfriend! Now I will get what you owe me!"

"Never!" Her tiny voice replied. Aw~ her voice was so cute when she's tiny! I wondered if mine was the same, but I'd have to ask Minerva to find out.

Before either said another word I asked, "Hey Minerva?" My friend turned to me, asking what. "Is my voice that cute when I'm tiny?" Both of them just stared at me in silence. I smiled and Minerva looked back to the Princess.

That wasn't a no.

I giggled happily and watched the tiny blond girl huff softly. The two went back and forth for a bit, arguing over the topic at hand and I just watched.

"My people will never let you have your way!" The princess said.

"They will as long as I have you!" Minerva retorted, holding the girl up by her dress collar.

"No! Mario will come and save me! Then you'll both be sorry!" Well that was a bright side, at he'd be coming to us. Though for a moment, something clicked my head...

Again, I interrupted, but instead of asking for attention I went straight to the point, "Then where is he now?" Minerva turned to me, questioning me in an annoyed tone, but I noticed that the princess didn't look at me. "You say he is coming, but why didn't you bring him with you? You must have known this could be a trap. The way you analyzed the room earlier proves that. You were looking for hints of a trap..." More silence, even from Minerva who looked at the princess."Not to mention you've been on edge this whole time. So if I had to guess... you purposely didn't have him come," I continued, "Or something happened for you to not want him to come. Because something happened... something happened and you didn't have him come or couldn't have him come. So tell us, which is it?"

Minerva turned to me again, surprise and recognition in her eyes. I guessed this was one of those moments when I "used my head" as she would put it. If a pumpkin counted as her version of a head. Either way she was proud, and turned on the princess. "That's right! Where is your knight now, huh?" There was no answer, but I could tell the princess was hiding something. Probably a silent resentment for me pointing out the obvious.

Minerva laughed, long triumphant. Not sure why when we haven't gotten anywhere yet. There was no Mario nor promise of protection for her; outside of the pact we'd made before. While Minerva beamed, I took the chance to take the princess in my hands and speak to her.

When I brought her to eye level, I saw tiny watery pearls forming at the edge of her large eyes. She hung her head low, shivering in her attempt to keep the tears from falling.

"Princess? We're going to take you hostage now, ok? We won't hurt you, but while you're there I want you to consider our offer. For the sake of Minerva, and the safety of your kingdom..." She didn't look up at me. Only stood there in my hands, staring at my palms. I stood again, and smiled to Minerva before heading for the door. Minerva followed, a wide grin on her face as she opened the door and strutted down the hall. Though I took one lingering glance at the door on the opposite side of the room. As if on command, it opened and a pumpkin head peeked inside: one of my soldiers. He opened the door fully and six more of them rushed into the room to me. I caught the glimpse of four bodies on the floor and a red pool surrounding them. A smile crossed my lips and I began walking again, my soldiers following after. Thank goodness for thick walls...

Everything after that went by quickly. The pink princess's soldiers quickly realized something was amiss, but it was to late. My people chopped them down as if they were harvesting them for dinner, which honestly didn't sound like a bad idea. I knew Minerva wouldn't approve though, and even if she did, Marina would have a say in it.

Marina was another friend of ours, an insect like girl who came from the Love Bugs' home. She was one of the yellow ones, which meant she revived people after they died. Thankfully she was on my side however, which meant my people could fight without fear of dying. She joined us on the way home, after the Toads were cut down. Her giggling nature made me smile and washed away all my doubts on the way home.

"12 injured! 27 deceased and revived!" She chimed happily as she hovered beside the carriage door. I opened the door for her, and she didn't hesitate to come in.

She perched herself into the seat beside Minerva and I nodded, to her, listening as she recalled what she saw from the small fights. My people charging the Toads without fear or regret. The beatings she'd healed and watched the Toads take. Even the items that were taken from the Toads bodies. I was most curious on the Fire Flowers that she spoke of, but it seemed they were all eaten by our opponents.

"Do you think we can find more?" I asked, earning an unsure shrug from Marina.

Minerva choise to speak up at that moment, "Doubt it." She said flatly, staring out the carriage's window at the soilders as they waddled beside it. She kept a distant, distasteful look on her face, and as always I couldn't tell if it was directed at my people or at some thought she'd never share.

My blue-headed friend turned to us after we let a silence fill the carriage. "The Fire Flowers grow in that bimbo's kingdom. Chances we'll get them are slim." She huffed, folding her arms and leaning back in her seat. Marina and I exchanged a glance, then looked back at Minerva.

"What if we sneak in?" Marina asked curiously. Minerva turned and scoffed.

"As if it's that easy." She retorted, furrowing her brows. "They're already gonna be on guard with their princess gone. Marina scratched her golden hair, making the bangs on her face that covered part of the green-crosses-for-eyes shift slightly.

"Maybe we could... hmm.." Marina began again, thinking intently. Before they continued, I interrupted.

"Is it really ok to be talking about this in front of the prisoner?" My friends turned to me, then their gazes fell to the small princess. Since we didn't have a cage prepared for her, I'd had to make due with keeping her in my head, which I'd placed in my lap. It was during these times when I loved being able to control my body without my head on, otherwise I'd need to keep the princess somewhere else...

Marina leaned closer to me, staring into my eyes beyond my eye's light and at the princess. "She's so tiny~" she chimed, making the princess cross her arms and sigh. I giggled as her colder breath brushed against the inside of my head. "What are we gonna do with her?" Helen continued as she leaned back.

"Put her in a cage and make plans for war." Minerva said, turning to Marina . I felt the princess tense, and I sighed.

"Actually, first we need to find a place to hold the princess. Then we make plans!" I chimed, smiling my usual smile. Minerva huffed again, saying how she liked her idea better but Marina seemed to agree with mine for the moment, so we agreed on mine.

The rest of the way home passed by with random conversations, and I felt the princess slowly doze off into sleep.


End file.
